New Subaru Outback H6 owner (and member!)

[mega-h6-fan]

Hey guys,

 

Bought this lovely Outback H6 2nd Gen a few weeks back, my first ever Subaru. Always been a BMW man. Very impressed with it so far, the autobox with the 3.0 flat six boxer engine & AWD make it perfect for this time of year. Also we had our first sprinkling of snow this morning and the heated windscreen & seats are excellent.

 

I took it down to Reading a couple of weeks ago and back to Yorkshire, it performed faultlessly and mpg was not too bad. I'm yet to do a brim to brim calculation but it seems it was high 20s overall.

 

Fitted a new custom made exhaust system post cat with a 5" rolled end. It burbles nicely and not too loud at motorway speeds.

 

Now then, wheel options... stick with stock and bigger winter tyres or change them? They are diamond cut/polished so a refurb will be £££. If change then to what?

 

Any suggestions welcome!

 

Mega

 

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[Jay762]

Wotcha and welcome - given where you are located I would go for a set of steels with winter tyres then look for some used larger alloys to have the lower profile tyres for the summer

[mega-h6-fan]

Wotcha and welcome - given where you are located I would go for a set of steels with winter tyres then look for some used larger alloys to have the lower profile tyres for the summer

Thanks Jay.

Im thinking part worn winters in these wheels, refurb myself then a bigger set of wheels in Spring...

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[Jay762]

That sounds like a plan - then if you do kerb them accidentally you wont be upset

[Judd]

We had those same wheels refurbed when we had our Outback2, simply shot blasted and painted in very bright silver (seemed to have metal flakes in the paint cos glittered nicely), circa £200 should get them done plus tyre removal and refit costs, a pretty wheel in good shiny condition when compared to the dross out there fitted to so many cars. 

The only problem with them is keeping them clean regularly due to so many nooks and crannies, so suggest you invest in a 5 litre bottle of Bilt Hamber's Autowheel, which is gentle on the finish and dizzolves the dust in minutes, i can't understand why so meany people run around with caked on brake dust for months on end and think that a quick wash is going to fetch that baked in grime off, it won't.

Getting diamond cut refaced is expensive and it simply doesn't last like good powder coating, by the time 2 years have gone by they'll be covered in spider crawls under the laquer again.

All in all i'd suggest staying on the standard 215/60 x 16's, they are just right for the car, cheap enough size too and so long as buy a decent make you can't unstick the motor on that size, plus being 60aspect you keep that lovely soft ride, plus the high sidewalls make it very difficult to kerb the wheels.

[mega-h6-fan]

We had those same wheels refurbed when we had our Outback2, simply shot blasted and painted in very bright silver (seemed to have metal flakes in the paint cos glittered nicely), circa £200 should get them done plus tyre removal and refit costs, a pretty wheel in good shiny condition when compared to the dross out there fitted to so many cars. 
The only problem with them is keeping them clean regularly due to so many nooks and crannies, so suggest you invest in a 5 litre bottle of Bilt Hamber's Autowheel, which is gentle on the finish and dizzolves the dust in minutes, i can't understand why so meany people run around with caked on brake dust for months on end and think that a quick wash is going to fetch that baked in grime off, it won't.
Getting diamond cut refaced is expensive and it simply doesn't last like good powder coating, by the time 2 years have gone by they'll be covered in spider crawls under the laquer again.
All in all i'd suggest staying on the standard 215/60 x 16's, they are just right for the car, cheap enough size too and so long as buy a decent make you can't unstick the motor on that size, plus being 60aspect you keep that lovely soft ride, plus the high sidewalls make it very difficult to kerb the wheels.

Thank you. Great advice [emoji106]

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[mega-h6-fan]

Winters going on now. Matching Michelin Cross Climate on the front axle and Nokian Weatherproof's on the rear.

Next up:

Wheel refurb
Sub/amp and focal components
HiD conversion
Tints (still mulling over this one)

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[Judd]

Good to see someone else using a proper trolley jack, IMHO the most important tool you can buy and not one to skimp on, which too many people do.

 

[mega-h6-fan]

Good to see someone else using a proper trolley jack, IMHO the most important tool you can buy and not one to skimp on, which too many people do.
 

Yes definitely important to use proper trolley jacks.

The tyres were fitted at my regular tyre supplier. He has a good stock of high quality german part worn winter imports and I've put them on my last 3 BMWs (One 5 series & two 7 series) - makes a world of difference esp when averages are below 6deg C.

Looking fwd to see how they perform when the really wintry stuff hits. We've already had our first (very light) dusting of snow last week so only a matter of time.

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[mega-h6-fan]

Had the seatbelts replaced today. The original beige belts were frayed and potentially unsafe if ever needed. So swapped for black belts from another H6.

Rocker cover gasket to be done to address an oil leak, as well as the caliper sliding bolt on the offside rear.

10" Sub and amp on order to improve sound quality and give it some deep bass and component speakers being considered.

Next week: HID kit.

Overall the H6 is going well, fun to drive and has already been used to shift a wardrobe and 8ft whiteboard to the new premises.

Definitely a multi skilled machine!

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[mega-h6-fan]

I had the Sound system upgraded.
New toys installed, as follows:

1. Alpine double din head unit W325BT with advanced bluetooth;

2. Focal component speakers and tweets all round;

3. Pioneer 10" active sub and integrated amp in the back; and

4. Sound deadening installed throughout the rear.

A great job by Audio Images in BD1, highly recommended.

Sounds crisp and perfect for my music/hands free phone needs. Only the deep bass is audible from outside with the (tapered) windows closed.
I'll post pics when possible.

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[mega-h6-fan]

After the winter grime she has been gathering, I gave the old girl some TLC as follows:

autoglym bodywork shampoo
Megs wax and polish
Megs Plast-RX (worked wonders on the rear)
Megs tyre gel

Some pics to show how well she cleaned up

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[WideSam]

Looking good! 👍